Deaths Resulting From Tuberculosis Can Be Reduced If Smoking Is Stopped

Latest research has proved that if smoking could be curtailed, lives of millions of people, who fall prey to tuberculosis, can be saved all over the world. There is a mass drive that aims at preventing deaths from tuberculosis. According to the researchers, smoking is a major road block in the progress of the drive because numerous deaths due to tuberculosis result from smoking. The research team belongs to the University of California San Francisco, Department of Medicine. The lead researcher is Dr. Sanjay Basu. A mathematical model was developed regarding the deathly epidemic of tuberculosis and how smoking can affect the cause and spread of this disease. There has been a major shift in the trend of smoking in the recent times.

Further, the composition of cigarettes has also been altered to include more chemicals and intoxicants, which is causing a very harmful effect on the health of smokers. The current study takes all these changing trends into consideration in order to evaluate the timely diagnosis and success of the treatment process. The study also considers the prevalence of HIV. The current trends in smoking is very alarming, with the average age of smokers getting lower. If the current trend continues, it is predicted that forty million smokers will lose their lives owing to tuberculosis. Further, there could be as many as eighteen million new inflictions. These predictions have been made for a forty year period beginning from 2010 and ranging up to 2050. Smoking is the sole reason for the increase in eighteen million cases of tuberculosis.

The number of people who have been inflicted with tuberculosis has increased from 256 million to 274 million all over the world, which is a 7% increase. The number of deaths resulting from tuberculosis has increased from 61 million to 101 million, which is a stunning increase of 66%. The goal of eradicating tuberculosis from the world is being dampened due to the change in the trends of smoking. The committee that aims at eradication of tuberculosis has set reasonable targets and strives to reduce the number of tuberculosis deaths by 50%. This target is for the period between 1990 and 2015. However, inability of people to kick the butt is causing a major problem in achieving this target. According to the research, 20% of the world’s population comprise of smokers. Eastern Mediterranean regions, Southeast Asia and Africa are the places that are largely susceptible to tobacco induced tuberculosis. Dr. Basu said that strict control of tobacco beginning right now can stop 27 million people from dying due to smoking.